Speed and power are prerequisites for playing the linebacker position.

However, the men under Ryan Smith's watch at Florida A&M are adding maximum visual awareness as a mandatory component to execute their tasks on the field.

Smitty Rock, as he's affectionately known by coaches and players, incorporates the equal usage of eyes with brawn to execute the plays on defense. This allows linebackers to immediately recognize a set and fire off to the spot for contact.

"The days of running to an area and stopping are over. We do match coverage where we try to find who's in our area and pick him up immediately," Smith said.

He adopted this superior optical approach while coaching high school and college ball.

Smith is a student of the game who has studied under some of the sport's most intellectual professors.

As a player, he was utilized all over the field at Taylor County High School in Perry.

He then transferred those skills to the defensive line playing at Valdosta State.

His coaching career began to take shape at the close of his collegiate days. In 1999, he joined the Blazers' staff as a student assistant.

Smith eventually returned to Florida, serving as a high school head coach at Gainesville, DeLand and his alma mater, Taylor County.

It was through these jobs where he established a relationship with Willie Simmons. The two coaches held several lengthy conversations about recruiting prospects when Simmons was an assistant at Middle Tennessee State.

"The coaching circle is tight. The more you can do, the more valuable you are and things that can happen for you," Smith said.

They later re-connected through a mutual colleague who worked at Clemson (Simmons' former school as a player). The bond created over recruitment, combined with sharing deep Florida roots, led to Simmons hiring Smith to coach linebackers at FAMU.

Ryan Smith reviews formations in his notebook and develops schemes for the linebackers.(Photo: Rory Sharrock)

Smith's additional college coaching gigs were at Alabama and Florida.

In 2015, he enjoyed a fruitful season and earned a national championship ring under Nick Saban.

"The one thing with coach (Saban) is you know exactly what's going on. It's hard, but I got a national title ring out of it," Smith said. "He's so smart. He loves his players. He's really good at keeping everybody focused on the task at hand. He keeps the ship headed in the right direction."

While in Tuscaloosa, Smith was the offensive quality control and offensive line coach. His dutiful work led to the front five winning the Joe Moore Award for the nation's best offensive line. This group cleared the way for Derrick Henry capture the Heisman Trophy. Henry was the first running back in SEC history to rush for over 2,000 yards.

For his next position, Smith remained in the SEC, taking a job at Florida. He switched to the other side of the ball as the defensive quality control and defensive line coach. He held this role in 2016 and 2017.

Smith's philosophy for playing the run is to stuff the gaps and establish a permanent residency in the backfield.

"We want to be attacking and downhill players. We want guys to trigger and go. We have to take care of our defensive tackles. We don't want them holding on to that 600 pounds. Let's trigger, get the double teams off them and make plays in the backfield," Smith said.

From a visual standpoint, Smith will teach an improved way to read and react to formations. As a result, linebackers can have a better comprehension of tendencies and produce short or loss-of-yardage plays.

"When you see c-a-t, what do you see? You say cat. No, you see c-a-t. You've seen c-a-t- so many times, that now you just know it as cat," Smith said.

"It's the same thing with our eyes playing football. You've seen this back do this so many times, that once he does this, we know exactly what we're supposed to do. Now, we have to get to that point."

For pass coverage, his instructions include attacking the inside of the opponent's hip without over-pursuing the play.

Despite his brief time on campus, the linebackers are responding well to Smith's coaching.

"It's so different and a lot better from last year," said Jibreel Hazly, second-team preseason All-MEAC linebacker.

"He (Smith) makes sure we know what's going on around us and our responsibilities. There were things we weren't coached up on last year. That makes a big difference. He's shown us things about using our hands more, footwork and stepping forward to save time."

As a Floridian, Smith is well aware of the legacy of FAMU football.

However, now that he's on the coaching staff, there's a difference in how people address him in public settings. He embraces the passion from the fans knowing it can energize the team.

"We can really take this thing back to where it's supposed to be," Smith said. "Our fan base is phenomenal. I was in South Florida recruiting. I'm there with other major schools, but everybody's saying go Rattlers. If we can get all of that together, we can have something really special here."

This story is part of a series running twice a week highlighting members of the coaching staff at Florida A&M University. For more information on upcoming features, follow me on Twitter @married2game1 and @rattlernews.